植物衰老的分子生物学基础

The basis of molecular biology of senescence in plants

叶片早衰是影响牧草和其他农作物产量和品质的重要因素之一。深刻揭示植物衰老的分子机制,对于牧草等作物生产中采用适宜的延缓衰老技术,进而提高牧草作物的光合生产力和改善其品质具有重要的理论和实践意义。研究表明,植物衰老的起始、伴随衰老发生的生化代谢和生理过程变化,以及随植物衰老进程发生的外部形态特征改变,均是由一群衰老相关基因的特异性有序表达及其协同作用的结果。本研究对近年来有关植物衰老相关基因的克隆、基因功能分类、表达调控和延缓植物衰老基因工程等方面的研究进行了概述,旨在为今后从延缓植物衰老角度改善牧草作物的产量和品质提供参考依据。

In agriculture, early-senescence of plant leaves is one of the important factors limiting the yield of grasses and other crops. It is would be useful to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of leaf senescence to enable the establishment of suitable senescing-delaying cultivation techniques in grass production. The productivity and quality of grass species and other crops could thus be initiation of senescence, changes of biochemical metabolic further improved. Some studies have found that the reactions and physiological processes combined with senescence, and modifications in the phenotypes of plants during plant senescence, were all due tO the specific and programmed expressions of a group of genes related to plant senescence. There are also distinct coordination networks of expression and regulation among the senescent-related genes during the progress of plant senescence. In this paper, the cloning, functional classification, expression and regulation of senescence-relatedgenes in plants, and progress in genetic engineering for delaying plant senescence are reviewed, with the purpose of providing a reference for improving the yield and quality of grass species and of other crops in the future by regulating the pathway of plant senescence.